Two new commissioners, three re-elected in Margate

November 15, 2012|Alyssa Cutter acutter@tribune.com

Broward County has unofficially certified the votes from last week's election, pending the counting of the roughly 1,000 ballots recently found in a warehouse, Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes told the Sun Sentinel.

Three incumbents and two newcomers make up the new face of the Margate City Commission.

Fourteen candidates ran for the five seats on the dias. Two of those seats were open, guaranteeing at least two new commissioners.

Frank Talerico, David McLean and Lesa Peerman each won back their seats, while construction business owner Tommy Ruzzano and retired teacher Joanne Simone stepped up for the first time.

Talerico reclaimed his spot from challenger Phil Hylander, owner of a property management company, by more than 1,000 votes.

"I'm looking forward to getting things done in the city, especially in the downtown area, like the market place," Talerico said. "I think the city will really benefit from it, so we're going to try to move forward with it."

The tightest race in the city was fought over seat 2. Incumbent McLean beat out two challengers by just more than 100 votes.

"I'm very humbled, and I want to earn back the respect of the residents," McLean said. "I want to keep on working for them over the next four years. The most important thing right now is to get city back on city business, find a city manager and get downtown taken care of."

Peerman kept her seat in a race against Frederick Schweitzer, in which she was ahead by more than 4,000 votes. Last year, she beat out 12 challengers in a special election to finish the term of Commissioner Art Bross, who died of cancer while in office.

"I'm most proud that I took every precinct," Peerman said. "The amount doesn't matter, but I look at that map and it's all my color; it's a big honor to me. I was kind of giddy about that. [I have] always tried my best to be available, and [I am] still going to do that while working on being more aggressive in building our downtown and finding a city manager."

Talerico, McLean and Peerman were sworn in during a recent commission meeting, but Ruzzano and Simone will have to wait until March 2013 to take office – unless current Mayor Pam Donovan or Commissioner Joe Varsallone decide to retire early. Then the commission would have to pick a replacement to fill in until March, which could be one of the commissioners-elect, according to Deputy City Clerk Joseph Kavanagh.

Ruzzano beat out four other candidates for the seat being vacated by Varsallone in the spring. Like the other winning platforms, he focused on how he wants to bring businesses to Margate via downtown development.

"Margate doesn't have a big selling point, but I think it could be the waterways," Ruzzano said. "The city has miles of canals I think we could somehow incorporate with downtown to make it accessible for boaters."

Simone, who won the seat currently held by Mayor Pam Donovan by less than 500 votes, said she is happy the residents have faith in her for her coming term.

"I have so many mixed emotions," Simone said. "It hasn't sunk in yet. I praise the good lord, and He gave me the strength to fight and run a good, clean campaign with integrity. I know I'm going to be a great commissioner, and my heart is with the city and businesses."

Want to ask the commissioners a question or make a suggestion? Email it to jzizzo@tribune.com, along with your full name and phone number.